Cynthia Smith, Curator of Socially Responsible Design speaks with architects Rosanne Haggerty and David Baker about community building through innovative affordable housing design.

Panel discussion presenting three Scraps designers’ approaches to the shockingly high human and environmental costs of textile and apparel production.

In 1901, Andrew Carnegie commissioned an innovative garden to complement his new home just off of Central Park. This idyllic space is now open to the public after its renovation designed by Walter Hood, principal of Hood Studio and winner of the 2009 National Design Award. Margie Ruddick, 2013 National Design Award winner, discusses how...

Discover your own fragile beasts as you color in delicate designs adapted from the prints and drawings now on view. The Fragile Beasts Coloring Book is available at SHOP Cooper Hewitt. Start coloring with these free, printable pages from the book:

Lecture by Sarah Grant, Curator in the Word and Image department of London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. Talk given in conjunction with the exhibition ‘Fragile Beasts’ (on view at Cooper Hewitt June 10, 2016 through January 16, 2017). In this talk Sarah Grant gives an overview of the grotesque in all its many fanciful and...

Jenny Sabin in conversation with Cooper Hewitt Senior Curator of Contemporary Design Ellen Lupton. Jenny E. Sabin’s work is at the forefront of a new direction for twenty-first-century architectural practice—one that investigates the intersections of architecture and science, and applies insights and theories from biology and mathematics to the design of material structures. Her experimental...

Shoe designer Edmundo Castillo, Creative Director and Executive Vice President of Aquatalia, on his influences and process, followed by a discussion with W Magazine Digital Features Director, Erik Maza. Prior to joining Aquatalia, Edmundo Castillo worked alongside industry icons Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren, and Sergio Rossi before launching his eponymous collection in 1999. He has...

Humberto Campana discusses Estudio Campana’s work in conversation with Caroline Baumann, Director of Cooper Hewitt. Estudio Campana, founded in 1983 by Humberto and Fernando Campana, is renowned for its use of every day or discarded objects to create expressive new forms. The São Paulo-based design firm has explored a wide range of disciplines, from architecture...

Ymer&Malta Director Valérie Maltaverne presents on the philosophy and process of her company, and discusses three exceptional works from the studio’s marquetry collection designed by Benjamin Graindorge, Sylvain Rieu-Piquet, and Sebastian Bergne. About Ymer&Malta Revisiting the French traditions of “savoir-faire” marquetry, inlaying, and carving, French design studio Ymer&Malta creates limited edition contemporary furniture and design...

Liz Ogbu in conversation with Curator of Socially Responsible Design at Cooper Hewitt, Cynthia E. Smith. From designing shelters for immigrant day laborers in the United States to a water and health social enterprise for low-income Kenyans, Liz Ogbu has a long history of working with communities in need to leverage the power of design...

Jacob Moss, Curator of London’s Fan Museum, traces the evolution of over 200 years of fan painting, using examples from Cooper Hewitt and The Fan Museum collections. This lecture is part of the Morse Historic Design Lecture Series. With the recent resurgence of interest in hand-held fan design, Cooper Hewitt’s historic collection of fans is...

Two short talks and a moderated conversation featuring graphic designers Richard Niessen and Craig Welsh explore themes of ornament, type, and history in contemporary graphic design. Niessen’s poster series—Palace of Typographic Masonry—create intricate arrangements of text and pattern, and is now on view in Beauty—Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial. Welsh collaborated with AIGA Gold Medalist Elaine Lustig Cohen...

Two breakthrough Finnish designers from Beauty—Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial discuss their explorations of design, memory, and making with Triennial curator Andrea Lipps. Tuomas Markunpoika made his piece Engineering Temporality to honor his grandmother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. He welded steel rings over a traditional wooden cabinet and then burned away the wood, leaving behind...

An evening with acclaimed designers Emiliano Godoy and Rodrigo Corral hosted by Ellen Lupton, Senior Curator of Contemporary Design at Cooper Hewitt. About the designers Born in Mexico City, Emiliano Godoy develops processes that rely on skilled labor and utilize local materials. Godoy’s product designs, such as the Pedro and Pablo Pair of Bowls, 2012...

A conversation between Thom Browne, 2012 National Design Award winner for fashion design, and Matilda McQuaid, Deputy Curatorial Director and Head of Textiles at Cooper Hewitt. Thom Browne is guest curator of Thom Browne Selects, which features mirrors, frames, and reflective wallcovering chosen by the designer from the museum’s permanent collection, as well as Browne’s...